HANDS ON
Shaper Profile with Tim Bessell

A line of parabolic stringers hug the walls upon entry and exit.

The La Jolla , California native shaped his first board in his parents' garage at the age of thirteen, and received his first personal order just a year later. By fifteen, he had shaped over 500 boards, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Bessell recalls, "I studied art and psychology at SDSU. I left college with about 6 units left and said, "F--k it. I don't want to be a psychologist, so I started my first company right here in 1985. I opened these doors right here in 1987, and I've been here ever since."

As his shop enters its thirtieth anniversary year, and nearly 43,000 surfboards have left his hands, Bessell finds an interesting balance between preserving the tradition of board building and testing its limits, and just recently he's gotten as close as ever to perfection.

"I would say my biggest contribution to the surfboard industry is developing and perfecting my model, 'The Eliminator.' It just works...for almost everybody; it's so good it's got a satisfaction guarantee. If you try it and you don't like it we make you another model and I don't think there's another shaper in the world who's ever said that."

Bessell says it. The most successful businessmen believe in their products, and as Bessell shuffles excitedly towards a rack of boards with parabolic stringers, his soliloquy on the future of board design reveals his confidence in his work.

"The parabolic is the future of surfboards for a while until something better comes along,"

His qualifier seems to remind him that something better might already exist – and within his shop no less. Bessell grabs a black, composite board and proclaims, "The Aviso is the Ferrari of surfboards. All the pros are getting into these right now – and when you find the magic one it's easily replicable."

The rack of black boards signals an enticing future in board experimentation, and Bessell explores its potential without abandon. And despite his attraction to innovation, he cites legends Mike Hynson, Barry Kanaiaupuni, Gerry Lopez, Pat Fleckey and Billy Caster as daily influences on his work.

"Billy Caster was probably my biggest influence," says Bessell. "Just his whole approach in surfboard philosophy is something that inspires me and influences even my projects today – the 'Eliminator' is kind of dedicated to his memory."

As a child walks through the doors of his shop, marveling slack-jawed at the towers of shiny surfboards before him, Bessell reflects on the beginnings of his own business, and gives this advice to aspiring shapers:

"It seems that people who are self-motivated are the ones who actually do something. You just learn on your own. You'll do anything to find out how to do it, and you just do it."

Before leaving the La Jolla surf shop, I take a look around. My eyes begin at the model for sustainable housing beside his desk, then bee line to the parabolic quad fins on the wall, and then rest at the same door that swung open for the first time thirty years ago, and I nod to myself; he's right.